Ukrainian orthodox Greek-Catholic Church

Seminarians and priests wearing masks of terrorists

Post date: 2012-11-20 Autor:
Contemplative sisters

Seminarians and priests wearing masks of terrorists

Today, on 17 November 2012, at seven o’clock in the morning about 20 men in masks broke into the monastery of contemplative sisters in the village of Probizhna, Ternopol region, Ukraine. These were priests and seminarians of the UGCC (Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church). They climbed a ladder to the second floor, broke the window in the chapel and invaded the monastery. The sisters just barely managed to take the Eucharist from the tabernacle. The attackers started to beat the sisters, kick and swear at them, and violently brought one by one out of the house under the supervision of the local priest, Zenobius Pasichnyk (UGCC) who was watching the brutal action from a distance. The assaulters stole a mobile phone and a computer from the sisters, took the computer into the church and removed its memory. They also stole a camera, so that the sisters could record nothing of these brutal acts of violence. They drove the sisters out of the house and left them standing barefoot in the cold. Again they threw the sisters’ belongings out of the house but did not even allow them to approach them and to put something on and warm up. Local parishioners stood in the door way, preventing the sisters from entering the house.

As early as seven o’clock in the morning the sisters called the police, but the police did not come until nine o’clock. Instead of standing up for the innocent sisters, the police told the aggressive invaders not to do anything in their presence but only after they leave they can continue their action. The sisters wrote a complaint about the violent physical assault and theft of personal belongings. Just as the sisters were about to hand over the complaint to the police, the attackers pounced on them and forcibly took them into a van and closed them inside. They wanted to take them away as quickly as possible, but the sisters promptly pulled the keys from the ignition. The driver was just hired and when he found out what was going on and saw the brutal treatment of the sisters, he waited until the priest went away, opened the front door and told the sisters to go out. However, the local priest called another van, this time with his driver. The aggressors dragged the sisters forcibly into the van again and one of the sisters suffered a particularly severe injury. One of the women from the parish took hold of her and with great force struck her head several times against the van. The sister lost consciousness and fell by the van. The woman with some man grabbed the sister’s hands and feet and threw her inside the van. The sister had a strong headache, felt sick and was unable to move normally. The sisters called an ambulance, but they got an answer that the ambulance would not come and they should go to a nearby local hospital. The doctor examined the sister but he wanted to get rid of responsibility, so he provided an ambulance to take her from the local hospital to a nearby town. The X-ray examination of the head and blood sample confirmed that the sister really suffered severe concussion.

The rest of the sisters are now standing at the fence of their monastery though they have documents certifying that the monastery is their private property. The attackers are putting iron bars on the windows and welding the door. The sisters’ private papers and all their belongings remained in the house and they are not allowed to take anything from inside.

One man tried to capture the events by a camera but the parishioners of the UGCC Taliban attempted to smash his car, so he had to leave the place. One of the local residents who witnessed the cruel treatment of the sisters also tried to make a recording on a mobile phone but the women from the parish started hitting her hard on the hands, so she was not able to.

This terror is a result of the incitement of religious hatred against the orthodox Catholic minority. It is committed by the UGCC Taliban under the guidance of the local bishop Demetrius Hryhorak. Even the police and state authorities are doing what the sovereign authority of the UGCC desires. Churchmen violate the laws and commit crimes for which they should spend several years in prison. However, Church leaders can do whatever they like. And what is more, after such action its main participants go to the church where they sing “prayers” and “officiate the liturgy” – but to whom do they pray and whom do they serve in reality...?